Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United in the past two seasons has been about Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq. But in the first game they played, it wasn’t about Misbah who was out injured and neither was it about Shahid Afridi who was traded to Karachi Kings, Zalmi won the game comfortably. Zalmi made it 3-3 in the head to head between both sides. This time Misbah was back and Zafar Gohar was making his debut for Islamabad United.
1st Innings
After being put into bat, Luke Ronchi continued to provide Islamabad with a quick start. Islamabad scored 39 runs in their first 5 overs, during which Ronchi scored three consecutive boundaries of a Wahab over before getting dismissed off the fourth ball in an attempt to get that one more boundary. But the start was a good one.
Islamabad added a further 39 runs in between overs 6-10, Hussain Talat giving JP Duminy company here. Duminy at this stage had scored 23 runs in 29 balls, while Hussain Talat and Luke Ronchi had scored 50 runs in 31 balls (with 5 extras). It was clear that Duminy’s role was to stabilize the innings and rotate strike to other batsmen who were more than capable to tonk the ball around. Duminy after 10 overs had scored at 4.75 runs per over, while his partners had scored at 9.67 runs per over.
The next 10 overs though saw a difference in approach, with 9 wickets in hand the aim was to double the score and add more. 22 runs were added in the next 3 overs, but two quick wickets with Talat and then Shadab Khan being dismissed saw Asif Ali walk in to bat. With 100 runs on the board, Islamabad would need some quick scoring.
The last 7 overs, saw Islamabad United add 10 runs. Duminy who at this point had scored 38 runs in 37 balls decided to go for his shots and get the quick run scoring 35 runs in 17 balls at 12.4 runs per over, but the star of the final 7 overs was Asif Ali who is well known for being a clean hitter in the domestic circuit. He added 45 runs in 24 balls at 11.25 runs per over. Asif Ali was severe on Umaid Asif taking 19 runs off his one over.
Islamabad United added 82 runs in the final 7 overs, the late order glut of runs thanks largely due to Asif Ali and JP Duminy.
2nd Innings
On a pitch which provided a lot of assistance to the spinners, it was the spinners who wreaked havoc. Samit Patel was the pick of the bowlers picking 4 wickets for 34 runs, he got rid of the Kamran Akmal off the first ball of his spell and then further pushed Zalmi into a corner by picking 2 wickets in 2 balls (Andre Fletcher and Dwayne Smith).
But the chase was still not out of hand when Zafar Gohar came on to bowl, with Darren Sammy in the pavilion and Liam Dawson being a quick scorer in the PSL this season. But Zafar Gohar ensured that the game did not run away from Islamabad’s hand, picking the wicket of Liam Dawson and then following it up with the wicket of Darren Sammy with what can be described as the ball of PSL 3.
Islamabad United finished top of the table at the end of the game and are looking strong to finish in the top 2 after winning 4 games on the bounce.